Eagles rally past Northern Guilford

By Conor O'Neill / Times-News

Published: Saturday, January 5, 2013 at 01:21 AM.

It gave the Eagles (7-4 overall, 2-1 Mid-State 3-A Conference) a lead they never relinquished, and irked Northern Guilford coach Bill Chambers to the point he drew a technical foul. Robinson made the ensuing free throws. A 3-pointer by Joey Lanier pushed the lead to 65-58 with 1:52 left.

In the last 70 seconds, Eastern Alamance converted six free throws to withstand three last-minute 3-pointers from the Nighthawks (3-10, 1-2).

Eastern Alamance rallied from a six-point halftime deficit, trailing from the final seconds of the first quarter until the opening possession of the fourth quarter.

The Eagles had seized the momentum heading into the final quarter thanks to a 3-pointer by Robinson with a second left in the third quarter.

It was a shot Robinson said had an even bigger impact than pulling Eastern Alamance from a four-point hole to one point.

“It was a big momentum boost. It was big,” Robinson said. “We were shooting them, we were missing, but we kept shooting and finally they started falling.”

And Chambers, in his first season at the helm for Northern Guilford, knew of the danger Robinson presented.

MEBANE — When the Eastern Alamance boys’ basketball team missed shots in the first half, there were few second-chance opportunities.

Thanks to a halftime change and a guard’s determination, a second-chance opportunity proved to be the difference in the Eagles’ 73-70 victory against visiting Northern Guilford on Friday night.

The game-changing play came from Lamont Robinson, who scored a game-high 27 points, with about two minutes left. The junior guard fired a 3, which Northern Guilford appeared to rebound before Robinson retrieved the ball and went in for a layup, breaking a tied game.

“When I shoot it I fade back and take off,” Robinson said of his normal tendency. “I was like, I’m going to stay with this one and got a good result out of it.”

“That exemplified the second half as compared to the first half,” McPherson said of the play. “You miss the 3 in the first half, we don’t follow our shot. In the second half, we follow our shot and get an easy one.”

It gave the Eagles (7-4 overall, 2-1 Mid-State 3-A Conference) a lead they never relinquished, and irked Northern Guilford coach Bill Chambers to the point he drew a technical foul. Robinson made the ensuing free throws. A 3-pointer by Joey Lanier pushed the lead to 65-58 with 1:52 left.

In the last 70 seconds, Eastern Alamance converted six free throws to withstand three last-minute 3-pointers from the Nighthawks (3-10, 1-2).

Eastern Alamance rallied from a six-point halftime deficit, trailing from the final seconds of the first quarter until the opening possession of the fourth quarter.

The Eagles had seized the momentum heading into the final quarter thanks to a 3-pointer by Robinson with a second left in the third quarter.

It was a shot Robinson said had an even bigger impact than pulling Eastern Alamance from a four-point hole to one point.

“It was a big momentum boost. It was big,” Robinson said. “We were shooting them, we were missing, but we kept shooting and finally they started falling.”

And Chambers, in his first season at the helm for Northern Guilford, knew of the danger Robinson presented.

“That was big, it really gave them a lot of momentum going into the fourth quarter. (Robinson) is a heck of a player,” Chambers said. “We knew we’d have to play him tough and we just gave him a little too much daylight on that one.”